With Granolah battling Vegeta’s new Ultra Ego form in the Dragon Ball Super Manga, we can make a fair analysis and decide who’s the strongest villain that has ever appeared in the franchise’s history until now. Just like in the good old Dragon Ball tradition, characters never stop training and getting stronger. Of course, villains always have to keep up.
After the Dragon Ball Super anime ended, the manga version continued with two major villains. And who knows what’s up ahead! Those terrifying new villains are Planet Eater Moro and Granolah, the Cerealian willing to avenge his people after a Saiyan invasion occurred many years ago.
Granolah takes the cake
We’ll say right from the start that Granolah is the most powerful Dragon Ball character in our view, and the explanation is simple. Goku and Vegeta achieved unprecedented heights in power during their fights against Granolah, who officially became the strongest being alive after asking for this wish to the Eternal Dragon.
Vegeta just achieved the Ultra Ego transformation, and it even rivals Goku’s Ultra Instinct technique. The Saiyan prince’s form has proven to be more effective against Granolah than Goku was at the Ultra Instinct level. This can only mean that Granolah is at least as strong as Ultra Instinct Goku. During this state, Goku managed to defeat Moro, the previous major villain from the manga, until Granolah appeared. But at his time, Moro was stronger than any known adversary Goku had, even Jiren. While Granolah is clearly stronger than Moro, this makes the Cereleraian the strongest villain ever.
We still need to learn more about Granolah
Some people may argue that Granolah is not actually a villain since he only wants to avenge his fallen comrades who suffered under the terror of the Saiyans and of Frieza’s army long ago. And they could be right! The manga still needs to tell us more about Granolah. But until that moment, we can consider him an evil guy as long as he wants to take down both Goku and Vegeta although they didn’t have anything to do with the extermination of Granolah’s people. Granolah’s motivation is an insane desire for revenge which blinds his judgment in realizing simple things like the fact that not all Saiyans deserve to die. This can only be a trait of an evil character.
Jiren and the deities cannot be counted
For our little journey in order to find out who is the strongest Dragon Ball villain ever, we’ve ruled out Jiren, the angels, and the Gods of Destruction. Jiren is exceptionally powerful, exceeding even some of the gods, but he’s not actually evil. However, Jiren did have a moment when he went berserk in the Tournament of Power while trying to hurt Goku’s friends only to prove that the beloved Saiyan’s morals are wrong. Otherwise, Jiren is a lonely and arrogant fellow who fought in the tournament for the salvation of his own universe, and that cannot make him count as an evil character.
The Gods of Destruction such as Beerus, Champa, or Belmod may sound evil by definition, but they’re not. These deities are “destructive” only to maintain some sort of balance in the Universe, as King Kai revealed. They’re not evil, although they’ll destroy entire planets without remorse if they have to.
Angels like Whis also cannot be considered villains. These characters’ mission is to work as assistants for the Gods. Angels from Dragon Ball aren’t allowed to intervene one bit in a fight from the Universe – if they disobey this rule, they’ll immediately get erased from existence, as it happened with Merus when he attacked Moro to help Goku.
Since we know who’s the strongest villain, which one is the most dangerous?
A villain can demolish everything using raw strength but still be weak in the face of an attack like the Evil Containment Wave (aka Mafuba). The technique doesn’t care how strong the opponent is – it will still take him down if it hits. It also doesn’t matter how high the power level of the one performing the technique is. Master Roshi was able to perform Mafuba and terrify other fighters with it, although they were light-years stronger than the old turtle hermit.
We have some other picks here, as well. Remember Majin Buu with his ability to turn anyone into candy? How about Dabura, who turned Piccolo and Krillin into stone after just spitting on them? These guys could take down much more powerful villains like Moro or Granolah as long as their aim is good enough. Even Cell’s absorption technique granted the opportunity to absorb anyone’s power, although it was only used for other androids and some normal people. However, it’s very hard to tell which one of the villains is the most dangerous, without considering the raw strength. Still, we’re placing our bet on Majin Buu, although some would argue here as well, saying that he cannot be counted because he became a good character after his reincarnation into Uub. Yes, but he was still pure evil at his time! Majin Buu even blew up the whole Earth with no hesitation or remorse.
Although Granolah easily wins our little analysis, you never know when it comes to Dragon Ball if an even greater threat for Goku and the gang emerges. But until that moment, they have to somehow stop Granolah, or at least convince him that Vegeta left aside his evil and selfish desires a long time ago.